The transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces within four years will require a significant increase in international training efforts, but NATO's Jack Kem says coalition forces are making progress in overhauling security institutions.

Elliott Abrams says the United States--rather than Israel--may strike against Iran's nuclear program.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon discusses the benefits to women of the international community's presence in Afghanistan.

John Campbell outlines the difficulties involved in addressing the current ecological disaster in the Niger Delta.

While President Barack Obama defends the U.S. troop drawdown in Iraq this month, U.S. and Iraqi military officials are seeking a longer force commitment.

President Obama's political objectives for Afghanistan are limited and feasible, says military historian Gian Gentile, but the military's counterinsurgency strategy and "maximalist approach of nation-building" could take a generation to achieve.

John Campbell discusses the risks of the upcoming Nigerian national elections.

In this comment, directors at the University of Botswana explain some of the difficulties in developing partnerships between African academics and their peers in the developed world.

Speech

Joshua Kurlantzick discusses democracy and elections in Burma.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid laments the poor international response to the Pakistan floods and articulates why the West should be more concerned about the floods' wide-ranging effects on international diplomacy.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula need to be managed carefully so that growing South Korean and U.S. intolerance for Korean belligerence doesn't lead to unintended military escalation, say CFR's Scott Snyder and Paul Stares.

Mohamad Bazzi discusses Lebanon's role in a power struggle among Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

In this Washington Post opinion piece, Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council, sees an opportunity for improved U.S.-Pakistan relations admist the destruction caused by the floods.

John B. Bellinger III discusses the anniversary of the Geneva Conventions and argues that the United States should use its political capital to clarify the Conventions and make them applicable to modern warfare.

A broad-sweeping look at international efforts to improve public health. This is part of the Global Governance Monitor, an interactive feature tracking multilateral approaches to several global challenges.

Karachi-based journalist Huma Yusuf takes a look at the turbulent history of Pakistani media, which has veered from state control to liberalization and back, depending on the government's vacillating policies.

A profile of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah.

While religious pluralism was a founding ideal of the United States implicit in the 1st Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom, Americans historically have edged toward it kicking and screaming.

CFR Senior Fellow Stephen Biddle and Foreign Affairs Managing Editor Gideon Rose discuss the way forward in Afghanistan.